The End of the Triangle
by GCN-anime-dragon
Summary: Aftet a quick bought with Kikyo and Sesshomaru, Inuyasha and Kagome finally have a relationship. At the same time, the set out on another mission, with OC Fenaux, to free her brother from the dreaded Cougar Youkai!(PLZ RandR!) CH.6 IZ UP!
1. In which Kagome snaps

A.N. Ooookay, here I am again, this time with an Inu Yasha fic. The idea popped into my head at about two in the morning one night, and after that I couldn't sleep either. So, I'm sitting here in study hall, bored as hell, with nothing better to do, (except maybe a little homework) but type.  
  
Basically, if you really want to try and squash this into the real storyline, it fits right after the episode "Onigumo's heart: Still beats within Naraku," you know, the one with the giant soul sucker sent after Kikyo from Naraku, and before the following episode, when Kagome leaves. The story arises from the 'what if' of: what if Kagome didn't 'realize she was alike with Kikyo in their desire to be with Inuyasha, but instead gets really pissed off and decides to do something about it. All hell breaks loose from there, basically.  
  
A note: I HATE and totally DESPISE Kikyo, so have no fear, she will have hell come down on her head by the end of this. The Kikyo/Inuyasha/Kagome love triangle WILL BE DESTROYED!  
  
Oh, and also, I'm trying to go for 'more seriousness' here, but knowing me, I can't so that, so, funnies will appear from time to time.  
  
HAVE FUN READING AND THANK YOU!  
  
Disclaimer: I DO not, I repeat, DO not own anything related to Inu Yasha. So get off my back... (No, I wasn't emphasizing anything there.....:) )  
  
THE END OF THE TRIANGLE: Chapter One  
  
It was night.  
  
The last ripples of color from the sun had long sense ducked under the tree- dotted horizon. The stars had appeared, bringing sparkling lights in the blue-black sky. The moon was only half it's normal bulk; and it was casting a ghostly glow across the landscape.  
  
On one rock, sat one certain hanyou, none other than Inuyasha. He was sitting silently on a rock at the edge of the forest, his legs crossed, his hands tucked into the sleeves of his red gi.  
  
He was currently deep in thought.  
  
A slight breeze sent his silver-white hair spilling over his shoulder. He flipped it away irritably, letting loose a slight growl.  
  
'This always happens when she's gone,' he thought grimly. 'Why do I feel so...tense?'  
  
Inuyasha shifted slightly, so that the wind was to his back. Kagome had returned to her own era. Again. She had assured Inuyasha and the others that she would return within a day. And this time, she had taken special care to assure Inuyasha himself that she wasn't leaving because she was mad at him, only that she needed sometime to herself...and a shower...and a nap in a 'real' bed.  
  
Then, she had left.  
  
Inuyasha snorted. 'Yeah right. My ass she wasn't mad.' He wasn't sure he believed the 'not mad at you part.' Taking time to say that seemed suspicious. See, a couple of days before she had left, none other than the infamous priestess Kikyo had made yet another ('coincidental') appearance.  
  
Inuyasha wasn't ashamed of what he had told Kikyo after saving her from that gigantic soul-collecting demon that had threatened Kikyo's life. Another demon that had been sent by Naraku.  
  
He remember...embracing Kikyo as he shouted, 'But I won't let Naraku have you either. Only I can protect you!'  
  
Kikyo had pushed against him, wanting him to let go, but he refused. 'Kikyo....' He whispered.  
  
She suddenly relaxed, and hugged him back. 'Inuyasha...I..."  
  
"Only I...only I can protect you from Naraku. And I will, forever...even if it means following you into the depths of hell....'  
  
'Inuyasha....' Kikyo shifted slightly, and the next thing Inuyasha knew, was that there was a knife pressed up against his neck.  
  
'KIKYO!'  
  
She had mocked him, laughed at him, as her own pet-like demon soul carriers had lifted her up from his arms and into the sky.  
  
'KIKYO!'  
  
He had called for her...even after she had threatened his life once again....  
  
And Kagome...and Kagome had seen the whole thing.  
  
Inuyasha shook his head, snapping back to the present. Why...why did he care? Kagome...he did need her...even to some degree love her. But, she could never understand.  
  
'I'm being stupid!' the tiny, sensible side of Inuyasha's brain spoke up for the first time in awhile. 'That Kikyo...she HATES you...she tried to KILL you. AGAIN. On numerous occasions. Why do you flock after that bitch like a homeless puppy?'  
  
Inuyasha squeezed his eyes shut. 'Because...I don't' know why. But, Kagome didn't have any right to but in, it's one of her business. Kikyo and I...I loved her. And I thought she...'  
  
'You're kidding yourself. That Kikyo that you loved died along time ago. The one who lives now is nothing but a clay pot animated by rage, hate and the need for vengeance. Do Kikyo's true memory, and the WORLD, I might add, a favor. Destroy her.' After that, the small sensible side was silent.  
  
"But...I can't," Inuyasha muttered aloud. "She's still so real. So there...and I..." Inuyasha started to stand. He shook his head. It was about time for him to be heading back to the others. Kagome SHOULD be getting back by now, surely.  
  
Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala were gathered nearby in a small clearing within the forest. The small glow from their campfire told Inuyasha exactly where they were.  
  
Inuyasha hopped off the rock with a sigh. But before he could take more than two steps, he caught a whiff of a familiar sent on the wind. Someone he knew, knew all too well...was coming closer. Someone who was so real, yet so fake at the same time.  
  
Inuyasha stood. Wide-eyed as the figure appeared out from the line of trees, looking just as she always did.  
  
She was back. Again. Ironically. (Of course.)  
  
(A.N. Have no fear. This IS NOT a Kikyo/Inuyasha fic. As I said before, I hate Kikyo. But, she and the emotional tension she brings with her is important in the story, so bear with me here.)  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Drip...drip...drip....  
  
A few lingering water droplets dropped from the showerhead down the drain. Kagome shut the door to the bathroom, keeping her towel wrapped tightly around her body. When she made it to her room, she quickly changed into a poofy blue pajama top with matching pants.  
  
She sighed.  
  
'I don't care what Inuyasha does. It's none of my business anyways. I so do not care.' She sighed again as she picked her towel up off the floor.  
  
As she ruffled the water out of her hair with the towel, a brief moment of irritability caused her to ruffle a little too hard, wildly rubbing her head.  
  
"Grrrrrr..." Kagome grumbled, tossing the towel back to the floor in frustration. Okay, so she did care. So what?  
  
Not being too thrilled by the fact that her hair was sticking out at every angle, Kagome plopped down onto her bed.  
  
Sinking down amongst the fluffy pink pillows and blankets, Kagome placed her hands behind her head, while staring at the ceiling. She wished for a moment that it were the sky. There was nothing she found more relaxing than falling asleep under the stars while Inuyasha was watching over her.  
  
It was so cool, how she could be so happy in the Futile Era. Back there...where she was needed...wanted...where she could make a difference. That was her 'special place,' somewhere where she could feel like she truly belonged.  
  
But with that Kikyo....  
  
She complicated things.  
  
For about four hours Kagome stared at the ceiling. (A.N. Okay, show of hands, who's ever had that happen to them? Damn homework.) Finally, she came to one startling conclusion.  
  
"Damn that stupid witch," Kagome muttered. She was sick of this. Sick of Kikyo. Sick of Kikyo and Inuyasha. Sick of this damn 'love triangle' that they were all trapped in. It was tiring, emotionally draining, and utterly, UTTERLY pointless.  
  
"Dammit...." Kagome cursed again, slapping her hand over her mouth as she did so. She realized that Inuyasha was starting to wear off on her. Another sign that they had grown close...after all, they say that couples start to act like one another, right? That's what her cheesy little friends from school would say.  
  
Upon realizing this, Kagome sat strait up in bed. That was it. She was going to knock some since into that thick skull of Inuyasha's, or else!  
  
Swiftly changing back into her little school uniform, Kagome grabbed her bulging backpack and opened the window. The cool night air fluffed her already fluffed hair as she dropped down to the grass.  
  
She normally wouldn't be leaving like this. She normally would have told her mother, brother and grandpa that she was leaving again, but considering that it was now past three in the morning, she figured they wouldn't be too thrilled with that.  
  
Kagome jogged over to the shrine that housed the Bone-eater's well. She edged herself over the side of the well, dropping down again through the flashing lights and spinning sights. (A.N. Hey! That rhymes!)  
  
Plop! She landed semi-softly amongst the dirt and thousands of bones of slain demons.  
  
"I need to get a ladder sometime," Kagome grunted, squirming out of the top of the well.  
  
She hopped to the ground, turning her head to get a look around. Less than a quarter mile away, she could see the light from the campfire of the others. She wanted to run over to join them, but some little instinct told her that Inuyasha would not be found in that group. Sometimes he was like that: Running off on his own so he could 'gather his thoughts.'  
  
She wondered briefly what he would be thinking about now. Probably, thinking about Kikyo. He was always strange—distant—after a confrontation with her. Soon, that would stop, if Kagome had anything to do about it.  
  
Walking up the side of a hill, Kagome gazed across a great percentage of land. A shrub here...a rock there...another shrub...another frickin' rock...a red blob...a shrub—wait.... A red blob? That outfit of Inuyasha's stood out like a sore thumb amongst the dark night. That, and his hair.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome called cheerfully. Too late after, she noticed that there was another person, seated beside Inuyasha. Someone wearing a white gi, a red hakama.  
  
"Uhhhhhh...." Kagome stuttered as she quickly closed the distance. 'Oh, well. Who better to tell Inuyasha to stay away from Kikyo then Kikyo?'  
  
"K-Kagome?" Inuyasha faltered. "Your...back...."  
  
(A.N.: Guess who's back...back again...Shady's back...tell a friend...la la la la....)  
  
"Yeah, Inuyasha, I am. I need to discuss certain matters with you as well," Kagome stated, coming to a halt beside the speechless hanyou.  
  
'Oh, shiiiiiiiit...now I'm really screwed,' Inuyasha thought bitterly. 'Why is it, that at the most inopportune times, Kikyo, for one, shows up...and THEN Kagome??'  
  
"What do you want, girl?" Kikyo asked in her 'I'm-so-bitchy-and-high-'n'- mighty' voice that drives everyone coo-coo. (Except, it seems, Inuyasha.)  
  
"K-Kagome?" Inuyasha said again.  
  
"What do I want? What I want? Well, what I really want is for 'this' to stop." She made little quotation marks with her fingers. "It's stupid, ridiculous, pointless...."she dawdled on and on. "And REALLY, man, your not even alive. Please just let Inuyasha go. He's suffered more than enough for your sake. Please, just let him go."  
  
"'Suffered?' " Inuyasha echoed.  
  
Kikyo laughed. (A scary sound.) "You fool, have you already forgotten?"  
  
The wheels in Kagome's mind spun. "Oh no! I totally forgot about that!"  
  
Kagome flash-backed on the time when Miroku, Shippo, and herself had been searching for Kikyo, and only Kagome had been able to pass through Kikyo's barrier. When she then had confronted Kikyo, Kikyo had put a spell on her so no one but Kikyo herself could see or hear her, while having her pet soul-carriers tie Kagome to a tree.  
  
The before Kagome's very eyes, Kikyo had tried to kill Inuyasha again; this time by dragged him down into an eternal hell-like dimension, to spend all of eternity there with Kikyo.  
  
(A.N.: Now THERE'S a scary version of hell!)  
  
As Kikyo was basically killing Inuyasha, she had kissed him, asking, 'Inuyasha, would you follow me into the depths of hell? Forever and ever?'  
  
'Yes....' Had been the drugged reply.  
  
That had been Kikyo's ultimate revenge: 'To have the heart of the man who killed me...never to have him be able to forget me...never...."  
  
"Oop!" Kagome squeaked, snapping out of it.  
  
"You see now, girl, that he can never forget."  
  
"Forget what?" Inuyasha asked.  
  
"Forget that mud pot!" Kagome yelled, as she took a quick step forward...and slapped Kikyo.  
  
Kikyo rocked back, enraged. "Did you just SLAP me?!" (A.N.: Catfight. Whoo- oo.)  
  
"What if I did?" Kagome huffed. "You don't seem to care about anything except fulfilling your own twisted ambitions."  
  
"In this world, what is wrong with that? What else is a dead woman supposed to do with her restored 'life'? The dead only have one wish: To remain amongst the living once again. That will never be realized, and yet, here I am, to use my privilege to continue what I could not do in life."  
  
"Kikyo!" Kagome fumed. "You linger just to kill him! Your, so...evil!"  
  
"Hey, hey, hey, HEY! Would someone please shut up for about two seconds and tell me exactly what the fuck is going on here?!" Inuyasha demanded.  
  
"Yes, I can, you jerk. I'm saying that I'm sick of this! Of you two. Of 'us.' I want HER to leave, 'poof!,' be gone, bye-bye!, but she won't because she wants to kill you so badly! And you...your too gullible...you dare to think that if you try hard enough, that she'll someday be 'your Kikyo' again, but guess what: That's never going to happen!"  
  
"Kagome...." Inuyasha said softly.  
  
"I admit that everything you just said is true, Kagome, however also, I see that there is no way to make you understand. You poor fool," Kikyo sighed.  
  
If Inuyasha was in his smarter train of mind, he would've started throwing punches and 'Tetsaiga' ed her ass right about now, but no. He was still in his, 'I'm-with-Kikyo-again' funk. Of course.  
  
"WHAT are you talking about? Your not even making sense anymore," Kagome muttered forcefully. Then she stiffened as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Inuyasha had managed to pick himself off of the floor.  
  
"She'll never come back, eh? Kagome...why, are you so...worked up about this?"  
  
"Because enough is enough," Kagome stated. "I'm not going to let you put your life in danger... for HER anymore."  
  
"I see. It's more like obviously, this girl has fallen in love with you, Inuyasha." Kikyo laughed.  
  
"K-Kagome??" Inuyasha's eyes got all big and round.  
  
"What?! No? No! Of course I don't!" Kagome began babbling. "How could anyone ever love that jerk?"  
  
"Huh? Excuse me?"  
  
Kagome began flapping her arms wildly. "I mean, really, once I heard him ask Miroku if he could 'have' BOTH of us!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Good point," Kikyo furrowed her brow.  
  
"HUH?"  
  
"Seriously, Inuyasha, I don't know why I even bothered to try discussing this with you," Kagome turned.  
  
"What in the hell?! Is this 'beat up Inuyasha day?'" Inuyasha muttered, reaching out to grab Kagome's shoulder.  
  
"SIT."  
  
"ARGH!" Inuyasha squeaked as he was pulled headfirst into the ground in a cloud of dust. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!?!?"  
  
"Now, if you'll excuse me, the others are probably waiting to see me." Kagome trotted off, without looking back.  
  
Inuyasha growled, taking a few steps forward. "Kagome! Wait! Why the hell are you so mad at me?! I wasn't going anything...I think."  
  
He slowly turned around to face Kikyo. "Kikyo...."  
  
She was standing, her arms crossed and a none-too-pleased expression on her face. "You're pathetic. You chase after that little child, yet you still claim to be loyal only to me. I don't know what I ever saw in you."  
  
"WHAT?" Inuyasha asked exasperatedly. "Now YOU'RE going to start?"  
  
"Inuyasha. I'm done here." Kikyo turned away from him and left, leaving Inuyasha totally alone on the hill. The wind blew, messing up Inuyasha's hair again.  
  
"Grrrrrr...Damn. Life is such a major bitch!!" Inuyasha fumed, storming back to the campfire where the others were now all gathered. "Damn. Damn. Damn...." It so wasn't fair, everyone being mad at him. It just didn't make sense.  
  
As Inuyasha entered the first line of trees, he heard a high-pitched 'slap!,' like the sound of hand on face. This sound was followed by a high, squeaky "Hentaiiiiiiii!" from someone who sounded like Sango. Inuyasha sighed heavily.  
  
Kagome wasn't going to tell them; everything was going normally as always. This was yet another argument that they would need to figure out on their own. He looked up again, at the stars.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Kikyo was fuming. Now her hopes of never letting Inuyasha forget her, her hopes of forever claiming him in his own block of hell, had been all but totally squashed. No, he really would never forget her, but now the pain and hopelessness found in that was mulled over, soothed by Kagome. She was his extra leg to stand on. Without physically taking her away, there wasn't any way that Kikyo could ever fully control Inuyasha.  
  
Except....  
  
Except....  
  
She stopped walking, and stared at the ground for a few moments. There was a way to cause him grief, still. She knew that despite being uncontrollable by Kikyo, he still loved her. Deep inside, he always would.  
  
She grinned wildly. Oh, yes. There WAS a way to piss him off...a way to make him seethe with jealousy.  
  
And she knew exactly the person that would help her do it....  
  
A.N.: Guess who's back...back again...okay, I'll stop. This ending is kind of a cliffhanger, but, it works nicely, ne? Of course, I know who's going to help Kikyo...but that's for me to know, and you to find out. Heh-heh-heh.  
  
Bwa-ha-ha! Notice I didn't say how he/she would help Kikyo, why, and even if it was really their decision to make.  
  
I'll try and update as soon as possible. (Note: 'As soon as possible' is greatly effected by how many reviews I get. You see that little button in the lower left hand corner that says 'submit review.' Click it. It's not that hard.)  
  
Sayonara!  
  
~GCN anime dragon (^-^x) 


	2. In which the plot thickens

A.N.: Well, here's, chappie two. I thought I'd update pretty quickly, so as not to leave for too long with the first chapter's ending. I want to thank all of thee who reviewed; you are precious to me. Sighs as smiles Anyway, I'm going to try not to babble as much before and after this chappie, like I did last time. Reader: Yeah!   
  
Anywho...to InuyashaismyguyandnotKikyoorKagomes, (love your name, by the way), you'll have to bear with me here. Kikyo will perish in a short while (psychotic laugh), but...I'm afraid I can't kill Kagome.... Just think of what that would do to poor Inuyasha! Here's an idea: Just pretend you are Kagome, forever and throughout this chapter. . That would be nice, ne?   
  
And now on with the story!!!! ;P  
  
DISCLAIMER: It doesn't matter what I do...I will NEVER own Inuyasha. Such a shame, de gozaru yo, ne? For me, at least.... :P  
  
The End of the Triangle: Chapter Two  
  
It was early the next morning, a small distance away from the forest, in a valley tucked away in thick knot of the mountains that surrounded it. The sun was shining already; the air was cool, and a small breeze blew every once in awhile. It was just any other day in the Futile Era.  
  
A certain two-headed dragon demon, named Ah Un (A.N: I think that's its name....) sunbathed in the warm rays, enjoying a deep sleep. With every happy wag of its long tail it shuffled the tall grass.  
  
And sitting on its back was the very un-amused Sesshomaru. In front of him, was the long stretch of the valley, where Rin was running around like any hyper little girl, rolling around in the grass and trying to catch butterflies. Jaken was in the shadow of the dragon demon, pacing back and forth, and muttering nonsense. Sesshomaru was half surprised that he hadn't dug a trench yet.  
  
Sesshomaru gave a little sigh. He was BORED.  
  
He leaned down to rest his head on his hands, brushing some of the white bangs out of his face. Check that: Hand. 'Dammit.' He wished there were two. With that recognition, he felt an odd mixture of anger, hatred and embarrassment. The wind blew gently, sending the armless sleeve, his tail, and his long, flowing hair blowing.  
  
"He got in a lucky shot," he muttered for what had to be the thousandth time.  
  
As he slowly raised his gaze again, he noted that Rin was running toward him, giggling and looking quite pleased with herself. As she skidded to a stop in front of Sesshomaru, she produced the small, delicate butterfly she had captured in her had.  
  
"Look, my Lord!" she giggles. Sesshomaru stared blankly as the butterfly crawled its way up to Rin's little fingertip. He reached down to poke it, and it fluttered away. As Rin watched the butterfly fly off, Sesshomaru smiled. Just a little.  
  
"Lord Sesshomaru, why are spending so much time in the middle of nowhere? What about the quest after your brother?" Jaken asked, piping up for the first time in about an hour.  
  
"I am resting Jaken, that is all," Sesshomaru replied, nonchalantly.  
  
"Resting, my Lord?"  
  
"Indeed. Now, be silent. It was nice while it lasted," Sesshomaru sighed. Rin giggled again.  
  
"..." Jaken stopped moving. "But, one thing, my Lord. I wonder... I think we are being approached. Don't you sense someone coming?"  
  
"Yes, Jaken." Sesshomaru had actually known about the visitor for quite awhile now. He hadn't mentioned it because... it was simply not a threat.  
  
Jaken sniffed. "It is a woman. She smells like the wench who travels with that Inuyasha!" he exclaimed.  
  
Sesshomaru shifted, beginning to turn around and face their visitor. He had also recognized the scent. But, he was a bit puzzled by it; for it wasn't the same as that modern girl's, only similar. This scent was almost...hollow...and it was touched with the lingering scents of earth and clay.  
  
Sesshomaru stiffened slightly as he looked. Could it be?  
  
The woman stopped walking towards the four's small 'camp.' She smiled cunningly, "You are Lord Sesshomaru, are you not?"  
  
"Who wants to know?"  
  
"Only I," Kikyo continued approaching, stopping right beside the two-headed dragon demon.  
  
"Why are you here, human?" Sesshomaru asked monotonously.  
  
"I came seeking you out, because I have a proposition I need of you," Kikyo said, with this kind of dangerous gleam in her eye.  
  
"A...proposition?"  
  
"Listen, you foul human wench! My Lord Sesshomaru would have absolutely no interest in helping you! How dare you come here and bother us with your—" –BONK—"OW!" Sesshomaru had hit him in the head with a pebble to shut him up.  
  
"Why DO you come to me, with you're proposition?" he asked suspiciously. He didn't fear this human (FYI he could squash her like a bug,) but he figured it would be less bothersome to hear her out. Then, if she became a nuisance, or a threat, --SWAT! —  
  
"Because, I need you for a plan to destroy Inuyasha's mental state of mind."  
  
"Destroy Inuyasha? I am listening," Sesshomaru leaned on his hand, pretending to look interested.  
  
"Lord Sesshomaru? Are you seriously thinking about helping this human?" Jaken asked, puzzled.  
  
"I haven't agreed to anything Jaken. Now, as I said, be silent, and go fetch Rin from over there." He pointed.  
  
"Fetch the girl? Why, my Lord, you always send me on such pointless duties?" Jaken walked off muttering. "Now where did that child run off to now?"  
  
Rin peeked out from around Sesshomaru's giant fluffy tail-like thing. "Uhhh, my Lord, I'm right here."  
  
Sesshomaru put a finger to his mouth. "Shhhh."  
  
"Don't mistake my meaning, Sesshomaru," Kikyo said coldly. "When I said that I wanted his mental state destroyed, that's what I meant. Sense I will ALWAYS have a part of his heart, and I care nothing for his body, I will claim his mind."  
  
"Your logic is warped. I care nothing for your own petty ambitions." Kikyo here made a face. "However, I must inquire, do you care what becomes of the rest of Inuyasha in the end?"  
  
"I care not. Once I've received my fill of his agonized babbling and amusing reactions, I'm done with him. I just want to see him suffer from overloads of confusion and jealousy."  
  
"Um," Sesshomaru had a thought pop into his head. "Just how are you planning to use me to fulfill this 'goal'?"  
  
Kikyo giggled, batted her eyelashes. "How do you think? I'm hoping you're a good actor, eh, Sesshomaru?" Twitter twitter, giggle giggle.  
  
"YOU'RE DEMENTED!" Sesshomaru rocked back, shoving Rin off Ah Un's back. He readied his claws. "YOU LAY A FINGER ON ME, I SWEAR, I WILL RIP YOU APART!!"  
  
Kikyo giggled a few moments longer. (A.N.: Damn bitch.) "You're too quick to judge. I would never DREAM of doing anything with you, of all people. But that's just the point. The mere implication of such will make Inuyasha angry."  
  
"And you're telling me, THAT'S your plan?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Sesshomaru thought. It was a risky gamble: Making deals with humans. However, this may be the plot he needed to finally rid himself of the disgrace that was Inuyasha. (And as a plus: Inuyasha's reaction would prove amusing on this dull day.)  
  
"I agree, under the one condition that I can deal with Inuyasha as I please, when you're done with him."  
  
Kikyo grinned evilly. "DEAL."  
  
(A.N.: 'DEAL'...with the devil...reincarnated. Grrrrrr.)  
  
Now, it was later that morning, and the sun was growing higher in the sky, causing every shadow to shrink up.  
  
The gang was on the move again, on the hunt for yet another shard of the Shikon Jewel. Inuyasha was surprised that Kagome hadn't told any of the others about they're little 'quarrel' last night. Little did he know, Kagome had deep reasons for doing as such. She believed that bringing the others into this would only complicate things. They always butted in. Though they always meant well, Kagome had a feeling that this time, the situation would e better if it was taken care of by them alone.  
  
She had seen the way that Inuyasha had looked at her the previous night. She could see that he was torn, but that this time, he wasn't thinking only of Kikyo. He had been thinking of her, and not in anger.  
  
Kagome sighed. This sigh was heard by Miroku, who she was walking beside. (Shippo and Sango were up flying on Kilala, whereas Inuyasha had taken the lead again.  
  
"So, Kagome, you came in pretty late last night. Did you get any sleep at all?" Miroku asked.  
  
"No, not really. I was thinking about certain...things." Kagome sighed again.  
  
"That's a shame..." he quirked one eyebrow up. "Do you mean, like, certain things?" He nodded his head forward, indicating Inuyasha.  
  
"Yes, like 'him' things," Kagome sighed, thinking that Miroku was just trying to be discrete, and not wanting to say Inuyasha's name near him, so Inuyasha wouldn't pick up on it with his excellent doggy hearing.  
  
But Kagome realized otherwise he meant others when she noticed that the monk was grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Grrrrrr...you HENTAI!" Kagome hissed, grabbing one of Miroku's ears and pulling him down so she could whisper, "I didn't mean THAT! Will you please pull your head out of the gutter, just this ONCE?"  
  
"What gutter?"  
  
"Oh.... brother," Kagome slapped her forehead, realizing she had forgotten about the Modern-Day-to-Futile-Era language barrier again. "Never mind."  
  
"Seriously, Kagome, I wasn't suggesting anything."  
  
"Bull."  
  
"What bull? Where?"  
  
"Now you're doing that on purpose. QUIT IT."  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
"Miroku..." Kagome shut her eyes briefly. "Me and 'him,' we're fine. I think...I think that maybe he understands this time. Maybe this time..." she faltered.  
  
"Oh, and maybe this time—" Miroku began.  
  
Kagome cut him off with a raised hand. "If this statement ends in anything along the line of: 'now you can get him in the sack,' I swear I'll...." She threatened.  
  
"Sack? Is this another one of those gutter things?" Miroku asked innocently.  
  
Kagome glared dangerously.  
  
Miroku blinked. "No...no, that wasn't it at all. I was actually being serious." He blinked some more. "Oh, wait...check that. What I meant was, maybe this time he'll actually admit that he needs you...that he loves you."  
  
"Yeah.... I hope you're right, Miroku?"  
  
Miroku faced forward again, satisfied with himself. A little too late to be of any information, he saw Inuyasha's ears swivel and twitch back too facing forward.  
  
Miroku paled. 'So, he was truly listening in the whole time,' he pondered. But perhaps, that was a good thing.  
  
"I don't get it," Shippo was complaining. It was sunset again, and the group had set up camp between two rock piles and a few trees. There was a river not to far away, a good source of water and fish. Fish from that river were set up on a circle of sticks around the fire. Miroku had tried to weasel them into another inn, but none were to be found that were classy enough.  
  
'It'd be cleaner to sleep in the woods again,' Miroku had grumbled as he walked out of the second... no, third hotel that had denied them entrance.  
  
Shippo began to repeat himself, when he realized no one was really paying attention. "I SAID, I just don't get it. We walk ALL DAY and there's no sign of any jewel shards."  
  
"Whaddya mean, 'we' walked?" Inuyasha grumbled.  
  
"Yeah, you were with me and Kilala," Sango looked at him sideways.  
  
"Whatever. But still, NO shards. Nada. Squat!" Shippo uncrossed his stubby little arms to poke at one of the sizzling fish.  
  
"OWIE!"  
  
"What did you expect Shippo? Fire is hot, after all; can't you hear the sizzling?" Inuyasha muttered.  
  
"Kagome? Do you have any bandages in your healing box thingy?" Shippo asked pathetically, sticking his fingers in his mouth, pointing his other hand at the other hand at Kagome's first aid kit.  
  
"Sure, Shippo," she giggled, seeming to be the only one in a good mood.  
  
Miroku picked up a fish by the cooler half of the stick. He blew on it gently to cool it off, acting all suave and sophisticated. Chewing thoughtfully, he wondered, "It would make sense though. Since most of the jewel shards are already in Naraku's or our possession, they're going to be harder and harder to come across as there are less and less out there."  
  
"True," Sango sighed heavily, picking out her own fish. "Then, the problem is Naraku."  
  
"Oh, don't you dare bring up that bastard again!" Inuyasha snarled. "One of these days we'll take the shards, all of 'em."  
  
"Then you'll use them for your own stupid purposes," Sango coughed, taking a bite.  
  
"What's THAT supposed to mean?!"  
  
Sango shrugged.  
  
"It's not like you'd use it for anything less personal," Inuyasha huffed.  
  
Sango shrugged again, refusing to let Inuyasha get on her nerves. Throwing her fish head and stick off into the grass, she rolled over, with her back to the others.  
  
Kagome and Shippo just sat there blinking... Shippo with his face full of fish. Inuyasha kept his mouth in a strait line, staring intently at the fire.  
  
"Hey, monk," he muttered after a couple of minutes.  
  
"Yeah?" Miroku looked up from his own fish-on-a-stick.  
  
Inuyasha tapped his fingers on his knee. "Did you perhaps tell her about your little 'theory' that states that if I use the jewel to become a full demon, the jewel would use me for evil?" he grated, one eyebrow twitching.  
  
Miroku looked up, one hand planted under his chin. "I may have...mentioned it."  
  
"Dammit!" Inuyasha hit the ground as he stood up. "That was only a theory...not fact to be gossiped about."  
  
"Are you calling me a gossip?" Miroku gasped innocently.  
  
"Feh," Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Whatever, monk. He grabbed the Tetsaiga and started to walk away.  
  
Miroku wiped his mouth, tossing the rest of the fish-on-a-stick into the fire. He glanced at Kagome, and started to stand. "I'll, uh, just go get some more firewood before it gets too late." He tossed his staff to Kagome, along with the purple robe thing he wore.  
  
"Keep watch over that, and..." he fidgeted. "Try to talk to Inuyasha. He's just a little, confused right now.... You understand that, right?"  
  
Kagome nodded, taking the items, Miroku trudged deeper through the trees, pausing every couple of seconds to lean over and pick up a stick.  
  
Kagome sighed. He was right now was the perfect time to speak only with Inuyasha. Though, Inuyasha wasn't probably in the greatest of moods right now, but, there were things that needed to be solved. The silent tension between the two of them was beginning to affect the rest of the group, (hence the fight earlier.)  
  
She stood up, walking around the fire. She looked at the objects that Miroku had left her, and shrugged. She decided not to carry the robe thing with her and instead laid it as a blanket over a snoozing Sango. (Kagome figured that she had to be cold in her little fighting armor.)  
  
It didn't take long for her to spot Inuyasha. He was sitting on a log that was lying next to the river. The crescent moon and stars made sparkling reflections over the surface. The cool grass swayed gently back and forth in the gentle breeze.  
  
Kagome could tell Inuyasha knew she was there; his ears were swiveled backward toward her and the breeze was blowing in his direction.  
  
He was sitting like he normally did: Legs crossed and hands in sleeves. Kagome walked over and sat down next to him, leaving Miroku's staff leaning against the log, and her endless backpack next to it.  
  
"Hi," she waved her hands in front of Inuyasha's closed eyes. He opened them, but didn't avert his gaze from staring strait ahead of him.  
  
"Kagome..." he began. "Do you... do you judge me like the others?"  
  
Kagome was mystified, "Judge you?"  
  
"You know what I mean. Judging me because I want to use the Shikon jewel to become a real demon. Feh, it's not like anyone else's uses for it would be any less selfish. Sango...she'd use it to kill Naraku, get her brother back, resurrect her village. Shippo'd... aw, who the hell knows what that little kitsune wants? Food...friends...his family." Inuyasha snorted. "And Miroku! He'd buy himself a fuckin' brothel! Full of sluts!" Inuyasha unsleeved his arms laid his hands on the log. His left hand landed on Kagome's, and though her fingers twitched, she didn't move it.  
  
"Inuyasha...don't you're being kind of harsh? In saying that, you're judging them," Kagome replied, silently begging him to just LOOK AT HER.  
  
"Whatever," Inuyasha muttered. "Like I give a rat's ass anyway."  
  
Kagome sighed, "Well, just remember, no one's perfect."  
  
Inuyasha 'feh'ed again. "There's just one thing I don't understand, Kagome, and that's what exactly YOU want...what you would wish for more than anything." He finally turned to meet her gaze.  
  
Kagome drew in a quick breath. He wanted to know what he wanted? He CARED?  
  
"What I want...more than anything? ...Aw, hell! I WANT this search to be over! I DON'T WANT to have to fight anymore, human or demon. I WANT everyone to stop bickering with each other, just to GET ALONG for once. But...most of all...I want YOU, Inuyasha."  
  
His eyes widened considerably.  
  
Kagome continued. "I want to be with you forever. If you haven't figured it out already, I love you Inuyasha. In a way, I always have. I always will."  
  
After she was finished, she blushed redder than Inuyasha's Fire Rat coat. Horribly embarrassed, she began, "Uh, uh, uh...I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to—" But then, Inuyasha stopped staring, and pulled her into his arms.  
  
Before Kagome could fully understand what was going on, she felt Inuyasha kissing her. Without hesitation, she kissed him back and she wrapped her arms around him, twirling her fingers in his hair.  
  
Kagome was the happiest she had ever been in her entire life. Did this mean...that Inuyasha cared for her...that he loved her? Even if it didn't, Kagome really wasn't worried about that by this point.  
  
Inuyasha bit down gently on Kagome's upper lip, rubbing his tongue against her mouth for permission for it to enter. Really, she didn't give a shit what he did to her, so she instead stuck her tongue inside his mouth, kissing him harder.  
  
Inuyasha snarled playfully as he leaned over Kagome, as they reached full make-out point. After all, they were all alone.  
  
"In...u...yasha," a deep familiar voice childed.  
  
Okay, maybe, NOT so alone.  
  
Kagome's eyes flew open as she gasped. Inuyasha gagged, loosing his balance and falling down on top of her.  
  
"HEY!" she squeaked, swiveling her head around, looking for the source of the voice.  
  
Inuyasha slipped off the log, making little squawking voices, and rolled into the river. He came back up, sputtering for air, letting his eyes scan the landscape. There...there he was.  
  
"SESSHOMARU!!!! DAMN YOU!!!!"  
  
Sesshomaru stood on the edge of the hill, the wind blowing his hair everywhere, and a very amused expression on his face. And to Kagome's total and absolute horror, beside the smiling dog demon stood Kikyo, an equally amused, and yet seductive smile plastered on her face.  
  
"KIKYO???!!!!" Kagome gasped, fixing her skirt and standing up. "You...what are you doing here? And what the hell are you doing?"  
  
See, Kagome had just noticed that Kikyo had her stupid arm wrapped snuggly around Sesshomaru waist.  
  
"Oh, whatever do you mean, Kagome?" Kikyo purred, snuggling her head into Sesshomaru chest. He flinched, but said nothing, and kept staring at Inuyasha.  
  
Inuyasha's jaw dropped about ninety feet, he slumped greatly. And his eyes crossed. "Wha...wha...wha the fuck??????"  
  
Sesshomaru laughed somewhat nervously. "Ah, I see you two know each other well now," he laughed, indicating Inuyasha and Kagome. "Now, I have come to finally take the Tetsaiga, as well as your life."  
  
'And I to take your sanity...' Kikyo giggled in her mind.  
  
"AGAIN!!!" Inuyasha howled. "But why, why that little TRAMP?!"  
  
"Oh, Inuyasha, there is simply so much you don't know about me...." Kikyo batted her eyelashes. "We're loooooovers, stupid."  
  
The next word echoes far and wide: "WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?!?!?!"  
  
Inuyasha's eyes were as big as saucers, and his fist clenched so tightly that he cut himself with his own claws. He bared his fangs, staring daggers through Kikyo and Sesshomaru both.  
  
"You," he targeted at Sesshomaru. "How DARE you!"  
  
Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows, grinning. "Why...YES Inuyasha. Apparently, she wanted a true demon...NOT a hanyou." He closed his eyes, and by the time he opened them, he had pried Kikyo off of him and prepared a battle stance. "And now, down to business, I want the Tetsaiga. NOW."  
  
Inuyasha just glared...preparing a steady stream of cuss words to come flying out.  
  
On one hand, Kagome was thinking, 'AGAIN? When will that giant fluff ball realize that he can't take the Tetsaiga?!', but on the other, she was furious. She grabbed Miroku's staff, held it out in front of herself threateningly.  
  
"OKAY!" she yelled at Kikyo. "You have hurt Inuyasha for the last time! You and me, one on one, let's go!!"  
  
Kikyo just giggled.  
  
A.N.: There. That's one hell of a cliffhanger. Whoo....damn that bitch.  
  
Anywho, I hoped you like this. Have no fear, the third chappie's gonna be a doozie. Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee. Remember, now it's time for you to do you're part. REVIEW. NOW. o. I am hypnotizing you to do so.  
  
Oh, and as for you, Sano99, pleeeeeze don't kill me. I promise, it's gonna all be better. (But first it must get worse!) (;P)  
  
Sayonara until later!!!  
  
GCN anime dragon (-x) 


	3. In which Sano99 kills me, oh I hope not

A.N.: Well, here I am again folks. I'm sure you're dying with anxiety (not) to continue reading, so I'll be brief. If a couple of sentences in this chapter sound a bit odd, it was because I knew where I wanted to go with the story, but didn't QUITE know how to get there. So, bare with me during those lines, k? Also, I know some of the charaters are OOC, but not really that much. I, can picture Kagome cussing...maybe. -- (sigh)....  
  
As for you, Sano99, hear is an uzi. Have fun...but don't kill me. Hence the chappie title. (Gave you a bad feeling, didn't it??) I'd like to give great big hugs to all my reviewers, but that would be just odd.... La tee da...  
  
Oh, and another thing. FanFiction.net has been deleting all the asterisks and stuff, so if something seems out of place, it's either because the asterick is missing, or the 'at'sign. Grrrr. Why do they DO that.... (probably SOME googd excuse, but, what the hell.....)  
  
Aaaaaaaand...the moment you've all been waiting for: Kikyo's tragic demise is now here! Read on to find out! HAVE FUN READING AND THANK YOU!  
  
DISCALIMER: INUYASHA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. There, simply put.  
  
The End of the Triangle: Chapter 3  
  
"Come on, Kikyo! You and me, LET'S GO!" Kagome hollered, holding Miroku's staff out in front of her.  
  
Kikyo stared. She grinned inwardly; she hadn't known that the plot would aggravate her reincarnated self as well.  
  
She put her hands on her hips. "Foolish girl! You think YOU can threaten ME?"  
  
"Damn right!" Kagome shrilled, switching the staff from hand to hand as she pulled up her sleeves. She was ready, wait, MORE than ready to charge at the smiling little broad...but someone else reacted first.  
  
Inuyasha blew past Kagome, leaving her in a puff of dust. He cocked his arm back, bringing hi claws to bare. He cracked his knuckles, screaming: "Sesshomaru you bastard! I'll fucking rip you apart!"  
  
"HA," Sesshomaru looked down his nose at the quickly approaching hanyou. "You're still not even a threat."  
  
"SHUT! UP!" Inuyasha stepped foreword on his left foot, shifting all his weight to give his arm more power behind it. He took a giant slash, but missed his mark. Sesshomaru simply hopped strait up, to land on the other side of Kikyo.  
  
"Damn you!" Inuyasha changed directions, swerving around Kikyo. Sesshomaru just jumped back to where he had been in the first place. Inuyasha kept swinging, and Sesshomaru kept dodging.  
  
'Interesting,' Sesshomaru thought. 'No matter how furious he is, he refuses to harm the wench...even to shove her out of his way. Even after all she's done to him, betrayed him, shot him, 'killed' him for fifty long years. Still...."  
  
"Will you stop it with the flying, you coward?!" Inuyasha demanded.  
  
"Certainly." With a flick of his wrist, Sesshomaru wrapped his tail around Inuyasha's neck and flung him into the air.  
  
"ACK!" Inuyasha gagged as he soared through the air. His hair went everywhere as he bounced off the ground, head first.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried.  
  
Inuyasha wiped the mud off his face as a small trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth. Grass and twigs were entangled in his hair, while his ears were pressed flat up against his head in rage.  
  
He coughed, rubbing his neck. "Dammit to hell...."  
  
Kagome stood dumbfounded, her arm holding the staff shaking with anger. The small gold hoops on the end jingled loudly with the motion. She had to get in there, she had to DO something!  
  
Sesshomaru brought his arm back, claws glowing green, ready to hack at Inuyasha.  
  
"Now die...."  
  
"Wait!"" Kikyo commanded. Sesshomaru got these really big eyes as she pulled his arm down next to her. She whispered to him quietly, "Not yet. I haven't seen him suffer nearly enough. Just wait, I have an idea."  
  
"Another idea?" he grumbled.  
  
Kikyo laughed. "Inuyasha. It makes you angry, doesn't it?"  
  
"What does?"  
  
"The fact that I'm not yours. The fact that I am happy elsewhere, especially with your brother."  
  
"No shit, it pisses the hell outta me! What did you expect, you tramp?!"  
  
Kikyo giggled into her hand, using the other to intertwine her fingers with Sesshomaru's. "I expected just that."  
  
She stiffened up, casually flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Indeed, Inuyasha, I don't believe you've suffered enough at all."  
  
"What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?!"  
  
Kikyo narrowed here eyes in an evil grin, then used her free arm to grab Sesshomaru's shoulder, spinning him around to face her.  
  
Sesshomaru lowered his eyebrows. "Human, when do I get to kill Inuya---- mmph!"  
  
Kikyo had grabbed a giant lock of the dog demon's hair, pulling him down to her height. She forced herself upon him like a great big slut, sticking her tongue in his mouth in a great big kiss.  
  
"MMPH!" he repeated, all his hair standing on end, his one arm waving wildly.  
  
Kagome had one of those priceless anime expressions, where here eyes were only little dots and her mouth open in surprise. "Hic-ic!" she squeaked.  
  
Inuyasha just stared again, only making a hoarse gagging noise.  
  
Sesshomaru's eyes glowed red, and he craned Kikyo's head back by her hair, prying her off him. "Too far," he growled, "you went too far, wench."  
  
"But the deal...."  
  
"You went too far." Sesshomaru looked really, really, pissed eyes slanted and glowing red, fangs bared, hair blowing all over the place.  
  
Kikyo grimaced in pain. "Let go, you're hurting me," she commanded.  
  
"Good," Sesshomaru hissed.  
  
Kikyo stared in horror, while Inuyasha stared in the greatest confusion. Kikyo closed her eyes and bared her teeth. "How DARE you...." She growled.  
  
"How dare YOU!" Kagome came out of no where, Miroku's staff held high over her head. With a look of pure anger on her face, Kagome brought the staff smashing down on Kikyo's precious little face.  
  
"You demented bitch!" Kagome screamed. Surprised by the girl's outburst, Sesshomaru's eyes changed back to normal, and he dropped Kikyo. She fell backwards, sprawled over the side of the hill.  
  
"You...you filthy little...." Kikyo propped herself up on one elbow, using her other hand to touch her now-squashed pretty little nose.  
  
Kagome stood strait, glaring down upon her victim. "It was all a trick, wasn't it? Wasn't it?!" Inuyasha continued to stare blankly from her spot on the floor.  
  
"It was all you, wasn't it? You set us all up!" Kagome demanded, taking a step toward Kikyo, holding Miroku's staff ahead of her menacingly.  
  
Kikyo wiped the blood off her face. "I'm going to kill you for that, you vile child. I will make you suffer!"  
  
"You're big on that, aren't you?" Sesshomaru muttered, trying the best to retain his dignity. He realized he should have known better than to have trusted Kikyo. Now, he would have to work with this other human girl, or even his dumb ass half brother. What ever it took to destroy the vile beast that Kikyo had become.  
  
Kikyo crawled backwards, lost her balance, and rolled down the hill. "You shan't touch me, I am warning you!" She pointed, her hair and clothing all dirty from her tumble.  
  
"Oh, Kikyo," Kagome sighed, "You're not even a PERSON anymore. You belong with your true self...who is dead." She began to walk down the edge of the hill, tapping the staff in palm of her hand. (A.N.: Okay, I know more OOC- ness. Bare with me here.smile)  
  
'I can do it,' Kagome reassured herself. Kikyo wasn't even a person anymore, and her new soul had turned evil. Her only goal in life was to kill Inuyasha, and Kagome for that matter. And, she had delivered many Shikon no Tama shards to Naraku. Why would something like that need to say alive?  
  
Kikyo scrambled backwards as Kagome raised the staff high above her head.  
  
Inuyasha blinked his dry eyes, (he had been staring for the past ten minutes.) He looked around frantically. He felt like he was going to be sick. He remembered all the medicines that Kagome had in her bottomless pit of a backpack. He needed something...anything...anything that could get him high enough he wouldn't register what was just about to happen to Kikyo. It's now like he really cared now, but....  
  
As he reached the yellow backpack, he tore it open, spilling its contents along the ground. He rooted through it, checking out every bottle of pills.  
  
"As-per-in... 'Tums?' Tums? What's that?" he muttered. "Oh, here's a new one.... Prozac...."  
  
One of Kikyo's enraged shrieks reached his ears. Spinning around, he saw Kikyo roll a few feet after being hit with the staff in the back. He heard Kagome caution: "Listen Kikyo. Let me end it. Return home."  
  
"NEVER!" Kikyo growled, beginning to hurl rocks at Kagome.  
  
Inuyasha sat there, staring. He couldn't let Kagome do this...even if it needed to be done. It would scar her for life. Sesshomaru could do it, but...he wouldn't interfere now. Now, Inuyasha could do it, he realized that suddenly. Who better? After all, he would refuse to let it bother him. He couldn't let it.  
  
Even more frantically than before, Inuyasha tore through the endless pile of stuff. A Pepsi...some coins...medicine...bandages...some 'unmentionables'...a rock...a can of tuna...a sledgehammer...some sunflower seeds....  
  
Hold it.  
  
A sledgehammer?  
  
Inuyasha picked up the heavy object. It was only a solid iron brick atop a foot long wooden handle trimmed with shiny metal plates.  
  
"Feh...Kagome has everything in that bag," Inuyasha muttered, swinging the heavy tool over his shoulder. 'This heavy thing could be used to wrack some serious havoc.'  
  
Inuyasha stood, quickly turning to where Kagome was towering over Kikyo. He broke into a gliding run, quickly closing the distance.  
  
Kagome flipped the staff over, so as to stab Kikyo with the stick end. She closed her eyes. Raising the staff again, high above Kikyo. She could do it...if she didn't think about it.  
  
"NO!" Kikyo suddenly gathered a burst of energy, willing herself to live. "You cannot overcome me! No one challenges me! I'll kill you yet, foolish child!"  
  
Kagome was slightly taken aback by the furiousity of her attack. Kikyo had stood, grabbed the staff, and fought violently for control of it.  
  
"Kikyo, please!" Kagome shrieked.  
  
"Please, what?!" Kikyo had a frightened panicked look in her eyes, which were wide with the pupils dilated. Every time Kikyo yelled at Kagome, blood sprayed out of her mouth. "You think I want you to kill me?! I can never die! I refuse!"  
  
Kagome leaned all her weight back, trying to free the staff from Kikyo. "Kikyo, stop!"  
  
"NEVER!" Kikyo punched Kagome low in the gut, causing Kagome to double over in pain.  
  
"KAGOME!" Inuyasha yelled.  
  
Sesshomaru began running to Kagome's aid. Whether she was human or not, he couldn't let her fall to that demented clay pot.  
  
When Sesshomaru was running at full speed, and the g-force had pulled his hair, tail and sleeve strait back, he notice something, just a little too late. He suddenly heard Jaken's squeaky voice saying, "Oh Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru, I finally found you! I---Ieeee!" Sesshomaru couldn't stop, an plowed right into the little toad, tripping. He flew a few feet, and skidded along the ground, flat on his face.  
  
Jaken fell over, squeaking. "I am sorry milord! I, I, I,...."  
  
Forgetting Kagome for only a moment, Sesshomaru sat up and grabbed Jaken back the back of his little head. "Have I ever told you. Jaken, that you are in the way often." The dog demon was covered in grass stains and mud now, and he looked none to happy about it.  
  
"N-no, milord, you haven't," Jaken stammered.  
  
"ARGH!" Sesshomaru groaned, quickly standing. "Stay over there!" he muttered, drop kicking Jaken somewhere over the hills. When he averted his attention back to Kagome, he saw that Inuyasha had gotten there first.  
  
Figures. Whenever he was trying to be nice....he shrugged.  
  
"KAGOME!" Inuyasha yelled again.  
  
Kagome pried her eyes open, still shielding herself from Kikyo's frantic attacks. "Inu...yasha!" she screamed, "Wait! Don't...!"  
  
Too late.  
  
BONK.  
  
Kikyo let out a choking scream as her eyes rolled up into her head. Inuyasha had brought the sledgehammer down into her skull, killing her almost instantly. She fell back, landing on Inuyasha.  
  
He stared for the longest time, just trembling as he held her. Kagome leaned down, laying her head on his shoulder in comfort.  
  
"Inuyasha...." She whispered. "It's finally finished...." "...." Inuyasha closed his eyes. "Yes...."  
  
A.N.: There HA, that's where I'm ending it. I had a weird moment, I so I put in Kagome's last line as what Kaoru says after Kenshin dies in "Reflections." (Not that Kikyo deserves that kind of sentiment....grrrr.)  
  
Not much of a cliffy, but top tell you the truth, here I'm stumped. I have very little clue (as usual...J/K!) as to where the story should go from here. I have one or two or three little ideas, but I want to hear from you readers. You can e-mail or review me your ideas, and I'll see if I can incorporate them. (Though, my e-mail is currently busted as of 5/11, so that may end up being a pain in the ass. -- (sigh))  
  
I'll update when I can, but near with me if I don't for a while. I like reviews, and I love all who give them. Unless they're a flamer. Then (makes a certain hand gesture)...yeah.  
  
Sayonara!!!!  
  
GCN anime dragon 


	4. In which YOU are wanted

A.N.: I was having the worst possible case of writer's block, simply because, I had no frickin idea what the write...oh, the horror! That, and the fact that I had the final week of school to go through...no, not finals week, cause, I don't gotta take any!!!! Hallelujah!!!! There truly is a God!!!! School is OVER!!!!!! But, I suppose you don't want any more of my rambling or excuses...but THE STORY. To those of you who reviewed: I love ya man! (In a totally normal, not icky way. You hentai you. :P )  
  
Here, I have a neat-o idea....I'm going to add a new character, one NOT IN THE SERIES. I got this idea from another chick who is writing a damn good fan fiction. You read this chappie, and then, in your ever-so-appreciated review...you can give me idea for a character. Boy or girl...I really don't care...but I can think of many more interesting storylines with a girl...if it is, then I've ALREADY got a storyline!! From the reviews, I'll pick my favorite (Shikashi, that's gonna be a hard choice.... ::cringe::, oh, help me...)  
  
This is a fluffy chappie...because I had writers block. No, "fluffy" doesn't mean Sesshomaru hear...it means the fact that I'm kinda stumbling in the dark... ::sigh::  
  
And finally...before the fluff can fly...I must say...DAMN YOU FF.NET!!!!!!! They took away all the symbols and faces with their new damn editing software. AHHHHH!!!!  
  
And now, on with the story.....  
  
THE END OF THE TRIANGLE: CHAPTER 4  
  
Kagome didn't think she'd ever see Inuyasha cry. Hell, she didn't even think it was possible for the hanyou! But, he could, in his own little way. Only one small, itsy-bitsy tear rolled down his cheek. Too bad Sesshomaru didn't get to witness the sight, for he had left with Jaken held tightly in one fist, and Kagome just about passed out.  
  
But that was it. One tear.  
  
They buried her then. No words. No sentiment. Just let her float down the river to her final resting place. They knew that her body would find the waterfall, and there would dissolve into the ash and clay that it was composed of. (Yeah, yeah, Aeris from FFVII, I know, I know...dah!)  
  
Inuyasha sighed. A huge gust of wind enveloped him, sending his hair flying and ruffling his ears.  
  
"So..." Kagome said hesitantly. "Now...what...?"  
  
Inuyasha closed his eyes...;the sun was rising. Little pink and orange strips of light peaked through the clouds, hiding the stars. He felt...a new sort of peace. It was like, the first cycle of his life was complete...and it felt...relaxing.  
  
It was time to start anew. With Kagome....  
  
"Inuyasha?" she asked as the hanyou slid his arm around her waist, holding her protectively.  
  
"It's over Kagome..." he looked strait into her eyes. "Let's go back."  
  
She smiled warmly, knowing that Inuyasha would be alright. She snuggled closer to him as they began heading back toward the camp.  
  
"I wonder if anyone is still up?" she wondered.  
  
"Oh, probably Miroku..." Inuyasha rolled his eyes ever so slightly, knowing that the monk spent long hours into the night, watching over Sango. Just as he watched over Kagome.  
  
They had just entered the woods when the heard a strange sound. A new voice floated though the trees, along with what sounded like Miroku. Inuyasha groaned (::as does the reader::) when he suspected that Miroku was going womanizing again. Could he really be doing that now????  
  
Who was...this new person? Were they friend...or foe?  
  
Inuyasha sped up his pace, dragging Kagome along with him.  
  
"Inuyasha! What are you doing?" she cried.  
  
"Nothing...just I need to check something out." He called back.  
  
Kagome grumbled, as her romantic moment was broken. "Shoot...."  
  
Inuyasha burst into the clearing, taking in all scenes. There was the fire, a sleeping Sango, a sleeping Shippo, Miroku: Sipping what could only have been a can of Livewire Mt. Dew...(scary)..., and... and....  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha growled. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
A.N.:-----Ooooo what a cliffy. Whoopty-doo. That's where the new character comes in! I apologize if this is just a bit short...but that's the fluff. So, I will wait for tons of ideas to come pouring down on my blessed head.... yeah right. But, in all truths, it may be awhile while I'm waiting for a bunch of people's ideas...like, a couple a weeks...or sooner, not later. So, let your imaginations soar! ----And then give your ideas to me. Hee hee. The thought of Miroku being jazzed up high on caffeine was way too amusing to pass up, so that'll be coming if I remember, in the next chappie.  
  
Oh, one last thing before I go. If you haven't read my bio, do so, especially if you're searching for low-priced awesome anime stuff. I've taken the liberty of listing some trustworthy, money-saving websites, that sell everything from video games, video game merchandise, (like the Final Fantasy Stuff), Anime, Manga, DVDS, posters, all the shit you could ever want. I'll add more...someday...if I find any...Seriously, check 'em out, go nuts....(::singsong voice::)...they've got lots of Inuyasha stuff...la,la,la....  
  
Also in the bio, you'll read the wonderousness that Inuyasha: Toki wo Koeru Omoi (aka: The Love That Transcends Time) is GOING TO BE IN THEATERS LATE THIS SUMMER! Hurry, tell all you know, we must swarm them with the Inuyasha Fans of America....man, am I in a dumb ass mood.....whoo ::sigh::  
  
Now, then, I bid thee good...night, evening, morning, or whatever the hell time it is when you read this. Now, review! Please.....  
  
Sayonara!  
  
:::Author beans self on head really hard as she realises that her babbling is longer than the actual chapter.....then she cries:::  
  
GCN anime dragon -x  
  
(...if my little Kenshin face doesn't show  
up there, I'm gonna have a cow.....grrrrrrr) 


	5. Introducing Fenaux and a New Mission

A.N.: Here I am, finally updating my Inuyasha fic. Gomen nasi for the wait, but, I just didn't have inspiration, if you know what I mean, and I was waiting for people to send me ideas for the OC, and I did get one :) but, only one. I was kinda hopin' for more outta you guys... nari nari.... In other things, Bri: I tried you're idea of listening to Kenshin's Theme over and over and over and over again for inspiration. Wheeeee........  
  
The Character is...Fenaux!!! The kick-ass chick submitted by none other than Inuyasha's Daily! (Decision made: 07/5/2004 4:24:13 PM...if you care) Here's the review:  
  
Fenaux= 7' tall, black hair like Inu's when human,  
  
blood red eyes, change to black when injured or pissed, wears black tank, black pants, summons any weapons possible and can also make them disappear... female/Inuyasha Personality  
  
I may change a few details here and there, or alter the disappearing weapons thingy, but, other than that....  
  
Now, on with the story!  
  
The End of the Triangle: Chapter 5  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha asked snidely. His assumption had been correct; the newcomer was a woman, and a pretty one at that. Miroku had wasted no time scooting closer to her than what would be normal.  
  
The woman slowly raised her gaze to meet his glaring one. "Houshi (monk), who the hell is this?" She nodded her head toward the dog hanyou, but didn't avert her gaze. Her eyes were blood-red (like Hiei's), cunning, and silently mocking and Inuyasha didn't like that. He felt like she was scanning him, checking him out, and that was just weird.  
  
Miroku coughed, eyes all wide and buggy. "Oh, you're back." He withdrew a hand that was just about to do its usual duty. "Inuyasha this is Yoippari Fenaux-san. Fenaux, this is Inuyasha," he used his hand to indicate Inuyasha.  
  
"Fenaux-SAN?" Inuyasha tapped his toes on the ground. He briefly wondered if Miroku had asked her to bare his child yet.  
  
"Inuyasha? Then you really are the hanyou I've been searching for," Fenaux sighed. She stood up and stretched, with her arms high in the air.  
  
Inuyasha's eyes got all big, and he had to stop himself from taking a step back. Sitting down, Fenaux looked about the same size as Miroku or perhaps Inuyasha, but standing up was a totally different matter. She was almost seven feet tall, with long legs hidden under her pitch-black haori pants (like Inuyasha's) and slender bare feet poking out the cuffs. She wore a kind of tank top, with fluffy folds of cloth that kind of draped over her shoulders for sleeves, and a hem that was about six inches above her pants line. Her hair was long and was midnight black, kept in a high ponytail, spare two pieces that hung behind her ears and over her shoulders, and a dark black feather adorning the ponytail's end. Her ears were pointed like an elf's, with big hoop earrings and smaller studs at the top.  
  
The only visible weapon that Fenaux carried was a single lengthened katana. She didn't really look too overly dangerous, but Inuyasha could sense a sort of eerie aura wafting off of her...a sign that he didn't want to start of on her bad side.  
  
(A.N.: IF YOU WANT A PICTURE, GIVE ME YOU'RE E-MAIL ADDRESS AND I WILL SEND IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I know the reviewer who designed her, and she gave me permission to draw Fenaux...)  
  
Miroku took another swig of his Mountain Dew. Kagome glanced sideways at him, noticing that there were several empty cans littered on the ground. "Enjoying yourself, monk??"  
  
Miroku looked at her, then at the soda. "Huh? Oh, hai...this drink, it's so flavorful, so bubbly, so very tasty Kagome, I hope you don't mind, but I have one, or two...or perhaps three...or four...." He babbled, looking quite pleased.  
  
Kagome looked a little taken aback. "Uh, Miroku? You do realize that stuff is pure sugar and caffeine, ne?"  
  
"Really? I hadn't noticed," Miroku smiled again as he adjusted sitting on the log next to Fenaux, tapping his toes to an unseen beat all the while.  
  
"You're twitching," Kagome remarked.  
  
"Really? I hadn't noticed," he repeated.  
  
Meanwhile, back with Inuyasha and his little conversation: "Really, me? Why have you sought me out?"  
  
Fenaux looked down at the ground. "Honestly, it's because I need help. You see, even as being a raven youkai, I cannot defeat the evil which has plagued my family."  
  
'Whoa,' Inuyasha thought. When he first saw her, she had seemed kind of piercing, and high-and-mighty...but now, a certain sadness had almost entered her gaze.  
  
Kagome, knowing that she herself was far better at communicating with strangers than Inuyasha was, decided to step in. "What evil?"  
  
Fenaux looked up at her. "Well, it's troubling. He was kidnapper by a group of powerful youkai. His future is a dim one, I'm afraid."  
  
"Your brother, eh?" Inuyasha repeated, sitting down on a log parallel to the one that Fenaux was sitting on. "And you say you can't get him back on your own?"  
  
Fenaux nodded. Inuyasha turned away from her and whispered to Kagome, "I don't like this. It sounds like another Good Samaritan act to me. Now look what's happened, they've started SEEKING ME OUT." He was none to pleased. This didn't even sound like a case where Shikon no Tama shards were involved.  
  
"But it's not like she wasn't polite...reasonably," Kagome said, shaking her head.  
  
"I think that we should help," Miroku said, crushing the now-empty Mt. Dew cans in his hand.  
  
"You would," another voice said. Sango had sat up, rolling Miroku's purple robe back in on itself. "You hentai you." Sango sounded more playful than serious, but Miroku knew he could never be sure.  
  
Fenaux spun around, glaring at Sango, taking her in as she had Inuyasha and Kagome. The thin human emitted a great deal of power and grace. She would be a great deal of help in the search for Yoippari Ashitaka...  
  
Her ten-year-old brother that had been stolen late in the night. His kidnappers were members of the Cougar youkai tribes that lived way up north, in the mountains. There was no mistaking their giant paw prints they left around the nest-looking hut where the Yoipparis lived.  
  
"So...what exactly happened?" Kagome asked.  
  
"It was because of the mountain youkai...those who call themselves the Cougar. They're very strong and determined youkai, but they are also very lazy."  
  
"Lazy?" Inuyasha asked, not sure of what that had to do with Fenaux's brother's disappearance.  
  
"Hai. Meaning they have great underground cities and beautiful underground parks, statues and fountains, but they don't build them. They don't do any of the work at all. They capture humans and weak youkai to work for them as slaves in the architecture and farming duties. I'm afraid that's where they've taken my brother, Ashitaka."  
  
"Your brother was older then, old enough to be put to work." Miroku looked all full of caring.  
  
"Not really. He had barely turned ten...not yet old enough to work on our family's canoe business even." Fenaux looked down at the ground. Kagome couldn't tell if she was about to cry or bite someone's head off, or both. Kagome could already kind of sense a similarity between Inuyasha and the new girl...they had a temper.  
  
Without saying anything, Kagome took a sideways glance at Sango. She too had had a younger brother stolen from her, to live out the rest of his life in slavery. But Kohaku's duties weren't to work on a farm or build temples...his were to be loyal absolute to the evil Naraku, and that often meant slaughtering hundreds of innocent villagers.  
  
Sango pursed her lips tightly, keeping them in a flat line. Kagome could only guess what she was thinking.  
  
"Why us?" Inuyasha was blunt as always. Though he understood the need for the stopping of these Cougar youkai and their use of slavery, he still wasn't convinced why HE had to be the one always running around, chasing the bad guys.  
  
"As I was traveling to the Chuushin Mountain, the capital of all the Cougar's great cities, I came across a small village less than two kilometers away from here. As I was searching for someone to sell me some rice, there was an old woman there selling healing herbs. She told me that there was a group of traveling warriors she knew that would be happy to help me in my quest.  
  
Inuyasha had a sinking sensation. Kagome perked her head up. "This woman. What did she look like?" she asked.  
  
"As I said: Old. Shorter. Red hakuma with a red gi. Oh, and she had a patch over her left eye," Fenaux said, snapping her fingers and pointing to her own eye.  
  
"Damn that old hag," Inuyasha muttered.  
  
"It must have been Kaede-sama," Miroku mused. "She does know of our great achievements and strength."  
  
"Yo houshi, don't let it go to your head," Fenaux warned. "She did say you were powerful, but I haven't seen anything yet. I ask you to accompany me on my quest. Have no fear, you will be rewarded."  
  
Inuyasha just sighed. Kagome looked thoughtful, whereas Sango seemed lost in her own little world. Miroku laughed, and scooted even closer to the raven demon. "Don't worry about it. Traveling in the company of even more beautiful woman is more than enough for me." He had picked up her hand and started stroking it.  
  
Fenaux kind of half-blinked. "Excuse me?"  
  
Sango rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about him." She picked up her Hiraikotsu. "Sometimes you just need to give him a good whack." She closed her eyes as she demonstrated, allowing the giant boomerang to come thudding down on the back of Miroku's head.  
  
"Ow...Sango..." Miroku whined. But he did pull away as he spotted Sango's 'I'm- not-thrilled-in-the-least' expression.  
  
"Heh-heh," he rubbed his head, closing his eyes happily. "A monk's gotta do what a monk's gotta do." He shrugged.  
  
"YOU don't HAVE to DO anything," Sango grumbled. She picked up the Hiraikotsu again, and tossed the houshi back his robe. "I have decided that we should help her," she said, turning to Inuyasha and Kagome.  
  
"Nan---Nani?? But why? Do you really need a reward that badly," he turned away, crossing his arms. "Honestly, Sango I'd figure that would be beneath you!"  
  
Sango growled. Kagome placed a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, forcing him to turn and look at her. "Inuyasha...this is a chance to help not only one, but a lot of people abused by these Cougars. Don't you think THAT is a good enough reason?" Inwardly Kagome wondered if perhaps Sango was taking this personally, replacing Fenaux's brother in her own head with Kohaku.  
  
Inuyasha replied, "Keh! All I seem to be doing lately is HELPING people? What'd they ever do for me?"  
  
Kagome stared at him disappointedly. She turned away from him, poking Shippo, who had somehow slept through this entire ordeal, awaking him. Miroku was standing, staring at the hanyou, waiting for his too to get off his duff. Fenaux was looking a bit perturbed herself.  
  
"Oh, Inuyasha," Kagome started, still facing away from Inuyasha, allowing Shippo to jump groggily onto one of her shoulders.  
  
"What now? You've tried reasoning, what else have you got?"  
  
'Dear Kami, he's sounding like a three-year-old again,' Kagome mentally grated. "Hai, true, reasoning rarely works on you." She turned around, all squinty-eyed and scary looking.  
  
Inuyasha got these great big eyes.  
  
Kagome opened her mouth. "O...su...wa..."  
  
"Ep!" Inuyasha ducked down close to the ground, putting his hands over his head. "Stop! Stop! Dammit, I'll go! Do you really think all the violence is necessary?!"  
  
Kagome grinned. "I knew you'd come around...."  
  
A.N.: There. That's it for this chappie. I really think that I hit something here, and have high hopes for this to be a dynamic and exciting story for a while yet. I thought of this really kick-ass plot. Err, at least I hope so... Whaddaya think?  
  
Please review, tell me what you liked, what you didn't like. I game for that. Flames will not be tolerated. Spamming will ensue.  
  
I'll try and update as soon as possible. Gomen nasi if I can't.  
  
Now, wait patiently (try at least) for the next chapter. While you're waiting, check out some of the other stories I'm writing! I'm posting three new ones as soon as I get the chance. After you're done peaking around there, you could read my bio. I've got movie updates, online anime/manga/video game sites, and some of the best Anime Music Video Download Sites. If you have any questions/comments/or add-ons, just e-mail me at ngcanimedragonnetscape.net.  
  
Arigato and Sayonara!  
  
--- GCN anime dragon :P 


	6. Starting out and mysterious powers

GCN: Howdy! I'm finally updating. I'll try to make it a longer chappie because of the wait. Grrrrrr...I have limited computer time now, meaning that every time I wanna update one of my parents is breathing down my neck to get off the damn computer. :::sigh::: Oh well, so usually when I update things, it'll be a lot at once. Like today...when they're out of town...heh heh....

In this chapter, be prepared for: FLUFF! And lots of it.

THE END OF THE TRIANGLE (AND BEYOND) --- CHAPTER 6

Really early the next morning, so early it shouldn't have even been legal, (according to Shippo and Inuyasha) the group of travelers set out. Sango offered to let Fenaux ride Kilala, but the youkai refused, saying that she knew the ground better if she was standing on it. Sango found this odd; if Fenaux was a raven youkai, couldn't she in one form or another fly? She shrugged it off.

Instead, Miroku and Shippo tagged along with her; Shippo standing on Miroku's head, clinging on as to not fall off and go 'splat!' Kagome was riding her trusty pink bicycle, with Fenaux jogging effortlessly beside her. Inuyasha brought up the lead, even though Fenaux was really leading them where to go.

Kagome took a sideways glance at Fenaux. For a moment she pondered the young youkai. They had no clue as to what her powers were, or who she really was. Oh sure, they knew who she SAID she was: A member of a clan of raven demons that build and sold enchanted boats, whose parents had sent her out on a quest to rescue her ten-year-old brother, Yoippari Ashitaka from the lazy, slave-driving Cougar demons in their capital city of Chuushin Mountains.

But, for all they knew, she could be a spy of Naraku's. She wasn't an incarnation, they new that for sure, because Inuyasha would've picked up on the ominous sent. But that didn't mean she wasn't truly another of their many, many enemies.

"So, Fenaux-san, what is the fastest way to get to the Chuushin Mountains??" Kagome asked, adjusting the gear speed on her bike to work better for uphill riding.

"By water. I'm not entirely familiar with all the area, but I'm sure that there is a river around here somewhere that goes right through the Chuushin City," Fenaux too, adjusted her pace, as they were now heading up a barren, steep hill.

'Water?' Inuyasha thought dubiously. 'How the hell are we supposed to travel on water?' Fenaux didn't seem to be carrying any of her family's canoes with her. Inuyasha 'Keh!'-ed softly, convinced that the raven youkai was full of it.

As Fenaux said, there was a river coming up in front of them. Fenaux explained that the Yoippari's had detailed logs and maps of all Japan's water systems. That information helped them set up their business-homes where they would get the most business.

The river appeared before them, a calm gurgling giant: over a quarter mile across, and probably a third that deep in the middle. Kilala and her passengers came to a halt were Inuyasha, Kagome and Fenaux had stopped moving. They had paused at a crook in the river's edge, where one could easily wade on out.

"Now what?" Shippo asked innocently.

Inuyasha crossed his arms and tilted his head upward. "Exactly my point."

Fenaux looked at him like he was a horse's ass. "Are you always like this? I didn't get such a negative impression from the old woman who recommended me to you."

"You think I LIKE following you to hell and back? You think I like being ordered around on some mission that has squat to do with me? All I wanna know is how the hell a river will do us any good if we have no way of travelin' on it!"

Kagome looked a bit taken aback by his outburst. Miroku came over and laid a hand on the hanyou's shoulder. "Now, now, Inuyasha. Is that any way to talk to a beautiful woman?" (Fenaux made a face.)

Inuyasha snorted. Kagome sighed, stepping forward. Inuyasha cringed, as if she was going to hurt him. But when she opened her eyes, she didn't look pissed. "Seriously though Inuyasha," she took one of her hands in hers. "Could you at least TRY to be a little more cheery sometimes?"

Inuyasha started to make a snide remark, but ended up blushing. He knew he could never stay mad at Kagome, even if he really, really wanted too. He sighed, holding her hand back, staring into her eyes as if to ask, 'How DO you do that?' Kagome stared back.

Someone coughed.

The two broke out of their trance, finding Fenaux looking a bit perturbed. Shippo had rotated from the top of Miroku's head to Kilala's forehead, and the little kitsune was blushing. Miroku had this idiot look plastered on his face and was on the verge of giggling like the lecher he was.

Inuyasha got these great big eyes, and he bared his fangs slightly, but he did not drop Kagome's hand out of embarrassment. "Got a problem? Tojikomeru! [1]" he sneered, and Miroku and Shippo snapped of it.

Fenaux coughed again. This time everyone averted their attention to the youkai. She was standing with one hand on her hip, the other back behind her hair. "If you guys are through, I have something to show you." She removed her hand from her hair, holding what appeared to be an inch-long canoe. "You do have a right to be suspicious of my thinking, but please do try to be more discrete. Like when you're wrong."

She held the small wooden canoe out in front of her. There was a single hole drilled through the middle of it, like a bead.

"Bakayarou! Just what the hell are we supposed to do with that? Maybe an ant could boat from that, but not the rest of us!" Inuyasha snorted. But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them.

Fenaux had placed the bead between two of her fingernails, holding it in front of her, with her eyes closed tight. "Bi-zuno no mokusei..." As she spoke she opened her eyes halfway, revealing that the pupils were glowing a pale red. "Konba-to!" ([2])

A bright flash of light blinded Inuyasha for a spilt second. As soon as his vision returned to normal, he couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him.

In front of where Fenaux was standing, sat a very beautiful, very well made boat. It was about twelve feet long, and could seat two or three passengers along each of its three, plain simple planks that made benches. Each end had been tapered into points, which had been rounded off into decorative spirals. But where the hell had that thing come from?

Inuyasha repeated his thought. "Where the hell did that thing come from?"

Fenaux glanced his way somewhat smugly. "You should have known I'd have the journey all planned out. I can use my yoki to transform simple beads into whatever I want. See?" She reached back behind her head, this time pulling out a thin braid of hair that had been tucked under everything else. Along the braid were several beads, another like the canoe bead, and about two-dozen others made of various metals, mostly iron and steel. The end of the blade was tipped with another, very small, black feather

"Oh I get it," Sango mused. "You can transform those beads into boats and stuff? That sure could be useful."

Inuyasha was speechless. The hanyou wasn't going to apologize, or admit he had been quick to judge, hell no, but he could be a gentleman and help everyone get moving.

"Eh, well what are we waiting around here for?" he asked, somewhat impatiently. He scooted the canoe to the waters edge. With amused expressions on their faces, Sango, Miroku and Shippo climbed carefully into the boat as it rocked and bobbled with every move they made. Fenaux did an unnaturally long jump into the front end of the boat, but it didn't wiggle more than an inch. Kilala became surrounded in flames, then as her small and cute self, jumped into Kagome's arms. Within seconds the neko-youkai was snuggled in, grateful to not have to fly for a while and getting to replenish her energy for possible battle.

Kagome put one foot on the edge of the boat. She scratched behind one of Kilala's ears, turning to face the inu. "Inuyasha? Aren't you getting on?" The young miko turned back around to climb aboard, but the boat tipped out from under her and she swiftly lost her balance.

"Yeeeaaahhh!" Kagome stammered as the boat rocked crazily, causing everyone on boat to get all discombobulated. Miroku all-too-eagerly grabbed at Sango to hold her in the boat, while Shippo jumped up, grabbing onto the monk's neck. Fenaux didn't look upset, but was clinging to the front-end spiral for balance. Kilala jumped out of the flailing ningen's arms to the stability of the ground.

But before Kagome could tumble to the ground, she found she was cradled quite comfortably in Inuyasha's arms. She had wrapped her grasp around his arm, so as not to tip over again.

"Oh, Inuyasha. Arigato ugoza-i masu [3]," Kagome felt slightly embarrassed, she wasn't at all usually that clumsy. But, on the other hand, she was being had by her Inu-kun for it...so the embarrassment was a minor factor.

Kagome could tell that Inuyasha was nervous. He had made a total jerk out of himself not too long ago, (on multiple occasions), and now he was being extra careful of where her rested his hands as he carried her into the boat, so as not unleash the wrath of Kagome. She smiled, despite herself, and was inwardly disappointed when Inuyasha set her down in the back row of the canoe.

"Shippo...can't breath..." Miroku gasped from where Shippo was still clinging to his neck.

"Now that THAT ordeal is over," Fenaux muttered. She pushed off the bank using her left foot, being careful not to fall in. The river quickly made the canoe pick up speed. The clear water swirled in little ripples in the wake of the boat, sending the few bubbles and leaves spinning away.

When the boat was traveling at a quick enough pace, Fenaux sat down in the front row. Miroku and Sango sat in the second row, (one on the right and one on the left of the canoe), with Shippo clinging over the edge, looking a little unwell. Finally, Kagome sat in the back row, with Inuyasha standing beside her.

"Why don't you...eh, well..." Kagome thought of another word to avoid saying 'sit' and sending Inuyasha careening through the floorboards. "...take a seat?"

"I'm keeping lookout. You never know what strange stray demons will come charging at us from anywhere, even the water." Inuyasha took a look around.

"Oh. Well, I hope your legs don't get tired, that's all." Kagome turned to face forward, so as not to get seasick herself. She wondered how long it would take to get to the Chuushin Mountains.

Inuyasha kept his ears, eyes, and nose on the lookout for trouble, but mostly kept his gaze facing in the direction that they were going. He soon noticed a kind of blob on the horizon, a smudge of brown that began to poke up into the hazy sky. The further that they traveled, the taller the smudges became, until a whole line of the blemishes dotted the entire horizon.

"Keh, that didn't take long," he muttered to no one in particular. The river took them closer and closer to the smudges until it became evident that the river did indeed pass THROUGH them.

"So, Fenaux," Miroku began, attempting to make conversation. "We don't know all that much about you and your family. How old are you?"

Fenaux turned away from the watching the water rush by. "Hmmm, in your ningen years, about eighteen. But for a youkai...hmm, that'd be about 88."

Miroku was shocked, even though he knew that demons aged at a much slower pace than humans, and that some were pretty much immortal. Hell, Shippo was almost fifty years old, and he was still just a kid.

"So when you say your brother is ten, he's really..." Sango leaned forward.

Talking about her brother made Fenaux feel a pang of discomfort, but she too, was bored and glad to be talking. "He turned 67 this year."

"Hey, that's about the same age as YOU Inuyasha," Miroku looked amused. Inuyasha snorted. Even though he had been in a spell that stopped time for him for fifty years, when people said that it made him feel old. In the back of his mind he noted that raven demons must age slower than inu hanyous, because he sure as hell wasn't ten in human years.

Kagome adjusted the quiver on her back. "Where exactly is your clan from?"

Fenaux sighed. "Hell, I don't exactly know how to explain it. We live in what you would call nests you see, though they are much larger than that of an ordinary bird's. Our lines are broken up into three clans, which are all located up north. Really, we aren't all that interesting."

"What I'm interested in is that 'Konba-to' shit," Inuyasha crossed his arms, still looking out at the growing mountains. "How the hell does that work?"

Fenaux glowered at him. "From ancient methods and our youkai tradition. I would actually appreciate it if you wouldn't—"

Shippo made a pathetic gagging noise, leaning further over the edge of the boat.

"Something wrong, Shippo?" Sango asked, leaning over to check up on him.

"Ug, not feeling well...getting...sick..." the kitsune squeaked as the boat tossed and wiggled.

"Not IN THE BOAT!" Fenaux cried. She quickly abandoned her position at the front of the canoe and her precious sentence, lifting Shippo around the middle and holding him out over the water.

"Ari-arigato." Shippo felt better just not being ON the boat, what with all the motion. He closed his eyes, trying to stop the dizziness in his head. But when he opened them, he noticed a darker blot of water shifting under him...and the pale glimmer of teeth below water.

"I-I-I-I-I-EEEEE!" he screamed, waving his arms and legs wildly in Fenaux's grasp.

"What is it?" She asked, but as soon as she finished she felt an ominous presence. Just in the knick of time, she pulled the kitsune backward.

SNAP!

A huge, stubby, wannabe-alligator head exploded out of water, closing its jaws around the air where Shippo had just been. An impossibly long neck followed the head, and was attached to a sleek, streamlined body consisting of a turtle-shaped, mud-colored body, four dolphin-like fins, a tall and thin shark's fin and an insanely long orange tail that twitched and coiled, spiraling in on itself.

Shippo squeaked again as the thrust to stay aloft and came crashing down again, just barely missing the boat and sending it rocking.

Kagome gaped at the enormous kappa. How could something that large find the momentum to propel its entire body out of the water at once, just for the one little snack that Shippo would've been to it?!

Kagome docked an arrow, attempting to aim as the canoe struggled to stay upright. Since she wasn't someone who had perfect aim otherwise, her shot went wildly off course. Inuyasha was flailing his arms around, loosing his own balance. Miroku and Sango were thrown out of their bench and on to the floor. The one who was in control the best was Fenaux, holding Shippo, no doubt because of her experience on the water.

The kappa jumped out of the water again, this time aiming for the front end of the boat. It landed with and huge crash and a snap of jaws, as it broke off the front tip of the boat. With the laws of physics against them, Kagome and Inuyasha were thrown far off of the ship like they were blast out a slingshot.

"Yeaaaaah!" They landed some distance away from each other with giant splashes. The Kappa was ignoring them, and heading back toward the boat.

"Maybe it isn't hungry enough to fight them for its meal, eh Shippo?" Fenaux tried at a laugh. When Shippo didn't answer, she repeated, "Eh, Shippo?" looking down.

"What in all hells??!" Shippo wasn't there, in her arms or on the boat. Where WAS that little shit?

"H...elp...(blub)...someone...(blub, blub) PLEASE!!" Miroku and Sango dived to look over the edge of the boat and saw Shippo floundering in the water. Normally the kitsune could swim quite well, but right now he was panicking.

"Shippo!" Miroku yelled, leaning over to grab him, then dodging backwards as the boat began to tip.

"Shippo-chan!" Kagome echoed on the other side of the river. She was an excellent swimmer, so she began power swimming over to the kitsune. But before she reached him, the Loch-Ness Monster wannabe came up from under him.

"EEP!" Shippo frantically clawed at the monsters nose, as it eyed him hungrily. As they were suspended in midair, the kappa managed to clamp down on his fluffy tail.

"I'm coming, Shippo-chan!" Kagome noted with no small amount of dismay that all her arrows had sunk to the bottom of the river. And a bow wasn't very useful without arrows.

The beast turned her way, apparently oblivious to the fact that Shippo was still stuck in his mouth, despite all the commotion he was causing kicking and screaming. Now it wanted Kagome.

As it passed beside her, ready to encircle her in its tail, she hooked the bow on the fin on its back, and used the thing's own motion to propel herself up onto its back.

"Kagome, what the hell are you doing?" Inuyasha sputtered, he was still swimming (though not half as well as Kagome), but was still far away from her or the boat.

"I have to get Shippo!" Even as Kagome was speaking, she was wondering how exactly she was going to do this. She had not a weapon on her, and even though the beast was swimming around in a tight circle, too stupid to know that its prey was now sitting on it, she was nervous to reach down and grab Shippo. That might attract its attention.

"What are we going to do?" Miroku asked Sango and Fenaux. Sure they could wait on Inuyasha getting there, but Miroku wasn't so sure of the hanyou's abilities to sword fight in water. He looked out at Kagome, and she shrugged, looking hopeless.

Kagome noticed that Fenaux didn't seem to be paying attention to anything but her hand. Then, softly, she was able to pick up on Fenaux's voice saying, "Bi-zuno no tekkou, kurie-to bi-zuno no buki...KONBA-TO!" ([4]) The small bead of steel she had been holding in her hands became a glowing orb of light, then began stretching out.

Before their eyes, the harmless bead turned into a razor-edged katana, the hilt made of a bronze-ish colored metal as well. Fenaux pulled back her arm and hurtled the katana at Kagome, hilt first.

"Here! Use this!" she called after it.

Nervous as hell that she would end up stabbing herself, Kagome reached out and grabbed the hilt of the katana out of midair. She stared at it strangely, knowing that moments before it had been a dot of steel a few moments before. "Kagome, what are you waiting for?" Inuyasha sputtered, now less than twelve feet away and attempting to draw the Tetsusaiga underwater.

So Kagome drove the sword up to the hilt in the back of the kappa's head. Blood sprayed out as well as some yellowish liquid. The beast made a gagging, 'in-the-throes-of-death' noise, and trashed once. Then, it began to sink.

Abandoning the katana, Kagome made a dive for Shippo, who had almost literally frozen from fear. A few of the kitsune's hairs from his tail were severed, but other than that he was virtually unharmed.

As Inuyasha caught up with them, Kagome handed him Shippo, and began to lead them back to shore.

As relieved as Fenaux was that they hadn't lost the boat or any lives, she was practically bubbling over with rage. She knew where that monster had come from. The orange paint on the freak's tail said it all. It was one of the many trained pets that the Cougar Tribe kept for entertainment and protection.

They were getting close now.

And it wasn't going to be as easy as Fenaux had thought.

GCN: Ta-daa! Another chappie. I tried to make it longer. I hope you enjoyed. Now, please review, it'd be much appreciated, and would help the next chapter come that much quicker. School starts here soon, ugg...but that actually might mean more computer time for me!!!

As for the romanji Japanese I used, I'll try and explain it.

[1] – Tojikomeru – literally "Shut up!" Very Inu, huh?

[2] -- Bi-zuno no mokusei......Konba-to! – Fenaux's chanting. Basically means: Wooden bead, convert. It's how she changes the beads.

[3] -- Arigato ugoza-i masu – Thank you very much.

[4] -- Bi-zuno no tekkou, kurie-to bi-zuno no buki...KONBA-TO – more chanting. This one means: Bead of iron/steel, create bead of weapon, convert.

Any other Japanese that you have questions with I'll answer. Or, for easy reference, go to (w w w . f r e e d i c t . c o m ) and go to the Japanese-English Dictionary. Or, if you really want, I can tell you in another chapter. (Thinks like ningen, arigato, nani, etc...)

Now you can also check out my clan's website at (a n i m e f r e a k 2 0 0 7 . t r i p o d . c o m) For a quick link go to my bio. Arigato! I need feedback!

Sayonara!!!! ---GCN anime dragon


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